Food Thread: Taters, Ring Meat, Eyeballs And Other Yummy Foods

Around here we get very high quality yellow potatoes, which seem interchangeable with Yukon Golds (which are great!) in most recipes. We also get mediocre russet potatoes, and red potatoes that vary wildly in quality. Sometimes they are great, and sometimes they are mealy and bland. And I don't bother with the silly purple ones. They taste fine, but I'm simply not going to pay a 50% premium just for looks.

Speaking of those crappy russets...anyone else have that problem? Because a good baked potato with cheddar and sour cream and bacon is quite the taste sensation when done halfway decently. And many people like to use them for mashed, but I like the waxy yellows better.

Anyway, potatoes are the tabula rasa of the food world. What do you like to splash on that page?

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You people in the hinterlands have never had the privilege of eating a pork roll and egg sandwich for breakfast. Around here it's called "Taylor Ham," but it's all the same stuff...probably scrapple, only ground finer so the eyeballs and ring meat aren't as evident.

But as the meat in an egg sandwich it has few rivals. Bacon of course is the king, we won't discuss Canadian Bacon, and breakfast sausage just doesn't seem right in a sandwich.

Oh..it would be incomplete without cheese. Preferably something that is individually wrapped for your convenience and protection.

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Yes, yes....it's a big joke. But arugula really is a great topping on pizza. It has just enough crispness that there is some texture, and the peppery flavor is a fine counterpoint to rich meat like bacon or prosciutto or speck or lardo.

There are some good pasta recipes that call for arugula, and I would be quite happy with a version of Spaghetti Carbonara that adds it to the mix (For those of you who are unfamiliar with Carbonara, it's bacon and eggs and pasta).

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A good cocktail is a fine thing, but I have found that as the liquor gets darker the quality of the typical bar's version decreases.

So the Manhattan I had last night at a fairly local place was an unexpected pleasure. I often order them, and am almost always disappointed. Why do I order them you might ask....